Wednesday, 20 February 2019

From Gleneagles MediaGleneagles, the world-famous Perthshire hotel and sporting estate, has today announced Hannah McCook, as a new Golf Ambassador, supporting the iconic Perthshire venue’s plans to inspire more young people, school children and women to take up the game.

Recently turned professional, proud Scot Hannah (25), who was born in Aberdeen and raised in Strathspey, was one of Scotland’s leading amateur players, winning three consecutive Scottish Golf Ladies Order of Merit titles before transitioning to the pro ranks this year.

Hannah joins fellow Scot and 1999 Open Champion, Paul Lawrie, as an ambassador, at a time when the award-winning 850-acre Perthshire estate prepares to celebrate the Centenary of its Top 100-ranked championship courses, The King’s and The Queen’s, designed by James Braid.

Gleneagles will also host the 16th staging of The Solheim Cup, from September 9-15, the pinnacle of women’s professional golf, on the Jack Nicklaus-designed PGA Centenary Course.

Hannah, who was previously a member at Gleneagles during her Sports Studies degree course at the University of Stirling, said:“I’m incredibly proud to be representing both Scotland and Gleneagles as a professional golfer. Gleneagles holds a special place in my heart and to now be a golf ambassador for such an iconic Scottish brand is a dream come true.”

Gary Silcock, Director of Golf at Gleneagles, commented: “In a year when Gleneagles welcomes the biggest event in women’s golf to Perthshire, it seems fitting that we announce a new partnership with Hannah, one of Scotland’s female golfing talents of the future.

“Her emotional attachment to Gleneagles means she understands our golf proposition perfectly. We have a strong desire to inspire and encourage more young people, school children and women to take up the game and Hannah’s energy and enthusiasm will help us achieve this.”

2018 marked Hannah’s stand-out season as an amateur, winning both the Welsh Ladies Open Stroke-play and its Irish equivalent just a week later. Hannah was part of the victorious team to represent Scotland at the Ladies Home Internationals in Ireland, and she also represented her country at the World Amateur Team Championships.

Hannah will initially focus her tournament play on the Ladies European Tour Access Series, with the aim of progressing onto the main Ladies European Tour. She also continues to work with the SportScotland Institute of Sport and PGA personal coach, David Torrance.

Tuesday, 19 February 2019

The Semi Finals of the Renfrewshire County Ladies Winter Foursomes have now been played with the Ranfurly Castle pairing of Anne Judge and Marion Munro winning a close contest against Lynda Bradley and Clair Barclay (Kilmacolm).In the other Semi Final Jan Macnab (Ranfurly Castle) and Sheila Shaw (Caldwell) were the victors against Dorothy Cartlidge and Julie Dickson (Whitecraigs)CLICK HERE TO SEE ALL THE RESULTS

Monday, 18 February 2019

The girls got a blustery but mostly dry day for their coaching at Paisley GC yesterday.After warming-up, they initially worked on their long game with Claire-Marie Macaulay giving advice on their swings. Some short-game challenges were enjoyed with the goal of finishing the session off indoors if they chipped into the targets! That focused their minds and they finished off in the comfort of the fabulous indoor studio.It was great to be outside and our thanks go to Claire-Marie for again making the session so enjoyable. Thank you also to President Pearl Orr who popped along to admire the lovely swings and future talent in Renfrewshire."

Sunday, 17 February 2019

Last day of Nikos Severis Cyprus Junior Open and well done to all the Scottish Girls! 👏👏🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿...especially Evanna Hynds for best Nett score on first day and Carmen Griffiths who was 2nd in overall competitionCLICK HERE FOR ALL THE SCORES

The Long and Short -- Liz Keohone and Evanna Hynds

Thanks go to Karyn Dallas for the photos and update

And her Karyn's final words were (from facebook )---
Been away working in Cyprus this week with Scottish Girls group...to say it has been eventful is an understatement....we have had sickness, lost wedding ring down van air vent so trip to....wait for it, RINGOS GARAGE and they were absolute stars 👌and retrieved it!! Then a nasty and unfortunate accident with one of the girls slipping on marble stairs in hotel and badly bruising her elbow, so much she had to withdraw *sitting 2nd at time 🙈 all happening whilst dealing with the worst weather ever but certainly 40 years in Cyprus...😳😭😭...then, last day another of our Scottish girls took unwell on course and had to withdraw....the other 4 managed to complete and Carmen Griffiths took runner up prize in Nikos Severis Junior Open....fabulous result!! Phew....what a week....but wouldn't change it for the world! #lovemyjob! 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

The quirky infatuation of the Korda family with Australian Opens has another chapter, thanks to Nelly Korda’s triumphal march around The Grange today in the ISPS Handa Women’s Australian Open.

The 20-year-old Floridian was a bump in her mother Regina’s belly when her father Petr, a left-hander who won 10 titles, took the tennis Open in 1998, his only Grand Slam victory. She was a teen when her sister Jessica won the golf Open at Royal Melbourne in 2012 and just a year ago, her brother Sebastian won the boys’ title at the tennis Open. “There must be something in the air,” she said.

It is not just a marketing spiel; it means something to the family. Nelly Korda said at the start of this week she felt “so left out” when her family talked about their Australian Open wins. Now, she can join in the conversation and on Sunday night, she even mimicked her father’s famous scissor-kick celebration. “That felt really good,” she said.

Saturday, 16 February 2019

The Championship (Boys and Girls) will recommence tomorrow, Sunday, 17 February, with a 2-tee start at 07:45.
The draw for the final day will be available from the event's webpage after 11:00 today.
CGF greatly regrets to announce that, due to organizational constraints, today's Severis Cup (18-holes) and the 9-Hole competitions cannot be rescheduled and are therefore cancelled.

Friday, 15 February 2019

Jane Turner has been handed a boost for her 2019 Ladies European Tour campaign after the Midlothian pro secured a new base at Dalmahoy Hotel & Country Club, on the outskirts of Edinburgh.

Dalmahoy has chosen the Ladies European Tour pro golfer as its ambassador, in a year when the women’s golf tournament – The Solheim Cup – returns to Scotland. As one of Scotland’s leading golf resorts, Dalmahoy was host to Scotland’s first ever Solheim Cup in 1992.

Turner, who has a shot at the Ladies European Tour this year, said of the partnership: “I’m proud to say that I am now representing Dalmahoy Hotel and Country Club and will act as an ambassador whilst at home and on tour. Dalmahoy has given me the perfect base for all of my practice with two great golf courses and quality practice facilities available for my short game.”

Sam Oliver, director of golf and leisure at Dalmahoy continued: “With two 18-hole golf courses, designed to contrast and complement each other, a driving range and pitch and putt, we are proud to offer some of the best golfing facilities in the country.

“But most importantly, Dalmahoy prides itself on being a welcoming and inclusive golf club – we’re privileged to attract golfers of all levels and abilities, from young children and beginners, through to seasoned pros. In a year when The Solheim Cup returns to Scotland, there is rightly ever more a spotlight on ladies golf, and we’re delighted to be supporting a Scottish leading light in the women’s game.”

Oliver continued: “We hope that by working with Jane we can encourage more golfers, and particularly women golfers, to our country’s great game.”

Dalmahoy’s golfing pedigree has attracted famous names such as Seve Ballesteros, Sam Torrance and Nick Faldo who have competed in various high profile professional events over the years including the Scottish Senior Open and the UK’s first ever Solheim Cup in 1992.

Turner continued: “Dalmahoy also has an indoor studio, which has allowed me to keep practising even on the harshest of winter days.”

“Dalmahoy also have a state-of-the art Leisure Club that I can use and now that my gym and golf facilities are in one place it means I can be even more productive with my time.”

For more information about golfing at Dalmahoy, please contact T: 0131 333 1845

A strong Scottish Girls team left today to fly out to Cyprus to join a strong international field in this year’s Nicos Severis Cyprus Junior Open which is being held from Friday 15th to Sunday 17th February at Minthis Golf Club near Paphos.

Some 54 boys and 26 girls up to 18 years old from 14 countries will compete over three rounds of 18 holes. A strong team of nine local youngsters selected from the Cyprus Golf Federation’s (CGF) Junior Order of Merit system will be flying the flag for Cyprus.

Since its inception seven years ago, the Severis Cyprus Junior Open has gone from strength to strength. It is now a World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR) event for both boys and girls attracting ever stronger fields and producing golf of the highest quality.

Coach Karyn Dallas said "This is a warm weather training to wrap up winter work in prep for playing season starting April....see what they have taken on board and what we still need to work on....having a competition (WAGR points!!) is an added bonus"

By Scottish Golf

Scottish Golf and The PGA join forces to host new Regional Junior Forums across the country.

As part of Scottish Golf’s plans to develop a new National Junior Framework, the national governing body is delighted to announce that it will be staging a series of regional forums across the country in partnership with the PGA. These events will not only allow Scottish Golf to gather valuable insights from those currently involved on the front line in junior golf, but will also provide PGA professionals, junior convenors and other volunteers engaged in junior golf activity to work collaboratively with Scottish Golf’s Development Team on the new framework.

Led by Scottish Golf’s Junior Development Manager, Gavin Forrester and Allan Martin, Coach Education Manager for the PGA in Scotland, the forums will provide attendees an opportunity to provide feedback on a range of key topics, including coaching, competitions, club support and schools delivery, through interactive workshops and discussion. The forums will give also delegates the opportunity to share best practice and input into some new concepts, helping to ensure that the framework works for everyone involved.

Ross Duncan, Development Director at Scottish Golf, is looking forward to the upcoming forums and said: “We are delighted to be joining forces with the PGA to stage these forums across the country and it is vitally important that we get the views and insights of PGA professionals, junior convenors and others involved in running junior golf activity. By working with these key stakeholders, it will help shape our future framework. We hope the forums will attract good numbers, inspire good debate and encourage the sharing of good practice from some of the fantastic work being done by many different parties.”

Interested in attending one of our 17 Regional Forums? A full list of dates, venues and how to sign up can be found on the Scottish Golf Website

The R and A will stage the 2019 British Girls Amateur Championship at Panmure from Tuesday to Saturday, August 13 to 17 following an agreement reached with Montrose Links to move the event to an alternative venue. This change of venue has been made due to a recent announcement confirming that a series of music concerts are to be set up and staged on a site immediately adjacent to Montrose Links during the month of August. Duncan Weir, Executive Director – Golf Development and Amateur Events at The R and A, said, “We have a responsibility to all competitors to provide a world class experience in which they can perform to their full potential and this includes minimising any adverse impacts on the staging of the championship.
“There is a risk that the concerts and their setting up would have caused disruption to the players so we have come to a mutual agreement with Montrose Links that the championship will now be played at an alternative venue. “Montrose Links remains on our potential list of venues and we very much hope that the opportunity to stage another event there will present itself in the near future. We would like to thank Panmure for moving quickly to step in at such short notice to host this championship, which is again expected to attract a world class field.” The British Girls Amateur Championship will celebrate its centenary year in 2019.

Sunday, 10 February 2019

Celine Boutier was the No.1 amateur in the world whose denouement was waiting to unfold. At 13th Beach, the Frenchwoman finally delivered on promise with the first LPGA Tour win of her career.Kylie Henry finished with a 6 over par 78 to finish in 3 over and tied in 35th palace in the ISPS Handa Vic Open in Australia today.Catriona Matthew finished tied 40th in 4 over par.

Scot David Law stood on the 18th fairway at 13th Beach today with a 195-metre shot over the swampy wasteland to negotiate, had an eagle to beat Australia's Wade Ormsby for his first European win.

Hannah McCook (Grantown on Spey), pictured, scored her first outright win as a professional when she headed the field by two strokes with a three-over 73 in testing conditions at Saturday's North Scottish Golfers' Alliance fixture at Fortrose and Rosemarkie.

High winds and heavy showers pushed up the scores

With one hole left to play, McCook and Kyle Godsman (Moray) were level in the lead but there was a two-stroke swing McCook's favour when she finished with a birdie while Godsman missed the green and bogeyed the hole.

Young female golfers in Scotland with aspirations of playing in the PING Junior Solheim Cup at Gleneagles in September can now benefit from a new joint fund established by The 2019 Solheim Cup Golf Development Programme and Scottish Golf.

With The Solheim Cup set to return to Scotland from 9-15 September, qualifying for the 2019 PING Junior Solheim Cup at Gleneagles is now underway, as last weekend’s Portuguese International Ladies’ Amateur Championship marked the first in a series of qualifying events for the biennial match.

The £9,000 pot has been established to provide financial assistance to those eligible to compete at various qualifying tournaments in the run up to this year’s event which will act as a curtain-raiser to The 2019 Solheim Cup as Catriona Matthew’s European team bid to regain the Cup from the USA.

Scotland’s Hannah Darling became the first beneficiary of the fund by competing in Portugal and impressed with a top-20 finish to start her bid to compete as part of Team Europe at Gleneagles.

A member at Broomieknowe Golf Club in Midlothian,.

15-year-old Darling is one of the nation’s rising stars, having climbed the amateur ranks in recent years. She enjoyed an excellent season in 2018, winning the inaugural R&A Girls’ U16 Open Championship and successfully defending her Scottish Girls’ Amateur Championship title she won as a 14-year old in 2017. Now in the year of The Solheim Cup, Darling has her eyes firmly set on making the European Team for this year’s PING Junior Solheim Cup, saying: “I was fortunate enough to be part of the Project19 group who got to experience The 2017 Solheim Cup from inside the ropes and this opportunity confirmed my ambition of one day competing in the event myself. It has been an exciting couple of years since then and I am hugely grateful to Scottish Golf for their continued support. This new fund will help me compete across Europe as I look to qualify for Team Europe at the PING Junior Solheim Cup. To be part of such a big event on home soil would be an incredible experience and I am working hard to ensure that I can achieve this goal.”

Darling was one of six young female golfers to have self-started their own #Project19 initiative when they first learned of Scotland’s bid to host The 2019 Solheim Cup and PING Junior Solheim Cup. Comprising a WhatsApp group, the girl’s ambition was to motivate each other to qualify to represent Team Europe at the event in their home country.

The group included Rachel Foster (Prestwick St Nicholas), Eilidh Henderson (Kirkcaldy), Evanna Hynd (Balbirnie Park), Carmen Griffiths (Aboyne) and Anna McKay (Crail Golfing Society) who alongside Darling were supported to attend The 2017 Solheim Cup in Des Moines, Iowa where they mingled with both US and European teams and even participated in the official handover ceremony to Scotland following close of play.

Andrew McKinlay, CEO at Scottish Golf welcomed today’s announcement and said: “With Gleneagles hosting the PING Junior Solheim Cup in 2019, we are keen to ensure that we have Scottish representation in the European team and today’s announcement marks our commitment to supporting the next cohort of female golfers that would benefit massively from an opportunity like this.”

We are delighted to be working closely with our partners at The 2019 Solheim Cup Golf Development Group ahead of this year’s event and thank them for their support with our fund aimed at supporting the country’s top female junior golfers in qualifying for the PING Junior Solheim Cup.”

Joe FitzPatrick, Minister for Public Health, Sport and Wellbeing, said: “This collaboration between the Solheim Cup Golf Development Group and Scottish Golf is a wonderful demonstration of the opportunity the Solheim Cup is giving us to support Scottish junior players and create a lasting legacy from the event. I wish Hannah and all our juniors vying for a qualifying position, the very best of luck in the coming months.”

The European team in the PING Junior Solheim Cup is captained by former Solheim Cup captain Mickey Walker and will see 12 of the best young female players in Europe take on their American counterparts. To be eligible, players must be aged 12-18 years old, having reached their 18thbirthday as of January 1st, 2019. The team will be comprised of six qualifiers from the PING Junior Solheim Cup rankings as well as a further six captain’s picks.

The qualification journey will take place across 10 events in six more countries across Europe, before culminating at the Girls’ British Open Championship at Montrose Links, Scotland, from 13th-17thAugust.

By Martin Dempster

In the countdown to the Solheim Cup at Gleneagles in September, a campaign has been launched aimed at encouraging more women to travel to Scotland to play golf in the sport’s birthplace.

The VisitScotland video content campaign, which has adopted the #HerScotland hashtag, is a concerted bid to grow the number of female visitors from its current figure of just 12 per cent at a time when female golf participation in some European countries is in excess of 35 per cent.

The campaign features four women, including LET player Kelsey MacDonald, who are filmed enjoying a golf break which also involves other fun activities off the course.

“VisitScotland is proud to be doing something that no other tourism body has done before by investing in a female focused golf destination marketing campaign,” said Malcolm Roughead, VisitScotland’s chief executive.

“We pride ourselves on being a forward thinking and innovative organisation and I believe this campaign will help to put the focus on Scotland as a female friendly golf destination.

“Scotland’ commitment to women’s golf is unquestionable with an investment in excess of £23 million since 2007 through our staging of both the Women’s British Open and the Aberdeen Standard Invesments Ladies Scottish Open cementing our reputation as the home of golf.”

Joining MacDonald in a campaign that will also be used to help support raise awareness of the 2019 Solheim Cup are Mar Hall head pro Kirstin Scott, Castle Stuart operations assistant Ellie Docherty and amateur golfer Susan Wood.

“It is a huge year for women’s golf in Scotland as we are set to host the Solheim Cup at Gleneagles in September,” added Roughead of an event that aims to attract 100,000 spectators as North Berwick’s Catriona Matthew leads Europe into battle.

“The event offers us a significant opportunity to increase the number of female golfing visitors to Scotland.

“Add in a TV broadcast audience with the potential to reach more than 600 million households it means a lot of eyes will be firmly fixed on Scotland.”

Tuesday, 5 February 2019

From FacebookBig smiles today as I am excited to announce that I am turning professional! I can’t wait to start this new chapter in my golfing career and I’m delighted to have Craigielaw’s continued support. I want to thank the club and to everyone who has helped me along the way. I’m very grateful for all the support I have received over the years. Ready to start my 2019 season out in South Africa in just over a week. CLICK HERE TO GO TO GABRIELLE'S WEBSITEGood Luck Gabrielle

18 Renfrewshire girls braved the cold morning to practise their golf at Cowglen Golf Club yesterday. They were divided into 3 groups and rotated between pitching into an inflatable fish!! and long game drills in the covered bays.

New friends were made considering the level of chatter and everyone seemed to enjoy the session. Grateful thanks go to Cowglen Golf Club for giving us the courtesy of their fabulous facilities and our volunteer coaching team of Clair, Lynda and Liz. The next session will be held at Caldwell Golf Club on February 24th. Details will be sent out nearer the time. If any other girl in Renfrewshire would like to come along, please email Gillian Kyle.Thanks go to Gillian Kyle for the report and photos

“The Young Person’s Panel is a huge opportunity to give young people in Scotland a platform to voice their opinions about the sport and the issues or barriers they may face, but it is also an opportunity for them to discuss innovative ideas together that can help overcome these issues.

We had a really positive first meeting of the panel and those involved have already got some great ideas of what they would like to achieve as a group which is really exciting for us all to be a part of.

The team at Scottish Golf are really looking forward to working with the group and wish them the best of luck as they embark on this exciting journey together.”

We cater for all, with our 18 hole and 9 hole stableford events to our flag events for those a little earlier in their career on the course we will get you out playing with those of similar ages and abilities. Our flag events consist of each player being awarded 36 shots to get as far round a shortened golf course as possible. Points are awarded based on each players finishing position in the flag event and stableford score in both the 9 and 18 hole stableford.

For those returning from previous years it is nice to see you back, for those new to the tour then a very warm welcome!

“The home of Junior Golf in the West”

2019 marks a big change for the tour, we will be able running over 30 events this year to help encourage junior golfers get into the game and more importantly stay in the game!

This year we will also be offering two options for joining the tour, every member of the tour will pay a £20 joining fee which will get them a welcome pack at their first event and then each golfer will have the option to pay as they go per event or join the whole tour.

We will be running three different events within the tour, an 18 hole stableford, 9 hole stableford and our flag events.

Each event will allow golfers to accumulate points over the course of the season and the tour will culminate in our tour championship finals at some of the very best courses Scotland has to offer!

We PROMISE that nobody will be disappointed in the venues we have lined up for our finals!